


A Tale of Two Sanses

by flyingfishflops



Category: Undertale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Humantale, Depression, mental health, sans why do you do these things to yourself?, science gone wrong
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-10
Updated: 2016-09-02
Packaged: 2018-07-22 17:14:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7447363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flyingfishflops/pseuds/flyingfishflops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When an experement Sans is working on goes wrong, Sans finds himself in a strange place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In which Sans Screws up.

**Author's Note:**

> GUESS WHO SUCKS AT NAMES?! :D AND DESPITE POSTING THIS ELSEWHERE ONLY JUST CAME UP WITH A NAME? :D

Sans the skeleton stumbled bleary eyed into the lab break room, where he was met with the smell of burnt bacon. A fire extinguisher looked suspiciously out of place, and Dr Alphys, Sans’ reptilian co-worker, looked suspiciously nervous. She had sweat beading on her scales, and her tail swung anxiously from side to side.  
“so, what happened here?” Sans asked, nonplussed, setting about making coffee. She shuffled uncomfortably.  
“W-well. When it gets to the d-day when we try an experiment, I-I, um, have a tradition, where I make myself a-actual food! Y’know, like, uh, a fry up?” she stuttered. “And, er, the… the bacon caught… the bacon caught fire.” Sans laughed and turned around to face her.  
“wow, al! i think i found someone who can compete with paps for worst chef award! no wonder you eat all those noodles!” he gasped, in mock awe. Alphys smiled slightly.  
“Y-yeah… hard to b-burn boiling water… heheh…” they lapsed into silence. Nerves were jangling that particular morning, and they were both feeling it. “So, uh, g-get much sleep last night?” Alphys tried. Sans shook his head.  
“nah. i only slept half the usual amount.” He’d been so nervous that instead of crashing like he normally did on the uncomfortable lab beds after a hard days work on The Project, he’d lain awake for hours. This was practically unheard of- if there was one thing Sans was known for, it was his love of sleep, and his uncanny ability to sleep anywhere. He’d only gotten about 5 hours last night. The prospect of his months of hard work finally paying off were too exciting for him to shut off his mind.

About a year ago, a freak hole in the code of the universe had lead to Sans discovering AUs. Alternate Universes. This rip in the fabric of the universe had turned out to be a window across the multiverse. He’d managed to have a conversation with a Sans in another universe. Blueberry Sans, they said they were nicknamed. Blueberry had seemed more like a mix of Sans and Pap, with 50% more sweetness. Whilst making him feel insignificantly small, the new knowledge of the multiverse did something hardly anything did anymore. It motivated him. He wanted to find a way to interact with these new universes; to make a way to talk, see or even travel between them.

He’d teamed up with Alphys to make a machine to do this. Dr Alphys had been the leading scientist on robotics and engineering in the underground, and was one of the best still, on the surface. Sans had done most of the heavy quantum physics. In the underground, he’d always considered the possibility of moving between timelines, and had tried to build a machine to do so. However, without the correct knowledge and parts, he’d been unable to do so. On the surface, though, it was possible. He’d felt it in his bones. He could get the parts, help and knowledge needed. So he did.

Sans sat at the table with an entire pot of coffee. He’d drunk half of it already and was vibrating softly like a temmie. He took another swig. Alphys grimaced.  
“H-how do you drink that much?! I-isn’t it bitter?” Sans smirked.  
“nah. i put in sugar.” he pointed to the empty sugar bowl. Alphys was pretty sure it had been full when she came down. Alphys snatched the pot out of Sans hands, just as he raised it to his mouth again.  
“hey! i was drinkin’ that!” he protested, grabbing for it. Alphys placed her hands on her hips, trying her best to look stern. It wasn’t something that came naturally to her.  
“C-come on, Sans! We d-dont need you to be, um, bouncing around the room when this is going on! A-and! We d-dont want you to have an e-energy crash in the middle of it either!” Sans groaned.  
“fiiiine. no more.” Alphys placed two plates of breakfast on the table. The bacon looked a little charred, but other than that, it looked fine. Sans took a tentative bit. “mm. not bad. not bad at all.” sitting in comfortable silence, they finished their breakfasts.

Slippers muting footsteps, Sans headed down the corridor. The lack of sound felt eerie. Usually there’d be some noise from the lab. Alphys working as he’d been sleeping, mostly. Then she’d sigh and roll her eyes when he eventually walked in. That was a tradition that had started between them. In the cloak room, he slipped on his labcoat over his hoodie, put a new notebook and pencil into one pocket, and took out a picture of him and his bro, Papyrus from his hoodie. He looked at it for a moment, before stashing it away. He’d hardly seen Pap the last few months. They met up every weekend, but still… Papyrus was the most precious thing in the world to Sans, and it hurt to be apart. Sighing, Sans pushed open the door.

There it was. The fruits of their labor. It sat in the center of the room, wires snaking around it. Alphys was already sat at the console, claws tapping the keypad. Sans slid into his seat. She didn’t look round.  
“H-heya. So! Uh, I’ve just began setting up. Is that… is that okay?” she asked. Sans was technically in charge, as it was his idea, his brain child, and his experiment. Mostly, though, they treated each other as equals. Alphys always looked for permission for the big things though.  
“yeah, that’s great. so, uh, you know what to do if something goes wrong.” Alphys nodded. They’d been through it hundreds of times. Sans was saying it just for his own consolation, however. “just, hit the kill switch, which should do it. if not, press that-” he pointed to a big red button. “-which’ll raise the alarm, and then cut all power, so it’ll hopefully have nothing to feed off of.” He finished typing in the final set up commands and Alphys finished hers. Sans put his key in the lock, and turned it. A low hum filled the air. “stage one of set up complete.” he checked the screen to his left. To the untrained eye, it was chaotic. Numbers flying around, waves on a graph spiking and falling. However, it made sense to Sans, who nodded. “ok. safe to proceed with step two.” more typing. Sans’ white pupils darted from line of text to line of text, greedily soaking up information. His grin grew wider. “it’s here, al! c’mmon! one last push! proceed with stage three!” Alphys let out a slight squeal.  
“O-okay! H-here goes!” With that, she punched in the last command to hack into the slight rip in the multiverse.

The hum grew to a high pitched whine. A black spot appeared. A rip. Alphys gave a shriek of excitement.

DARKER 

Sans started. Nothing could be that black. It didn’t seem possible.

DARKER.

No matter how much light was hitting it, seemed to willingly accept the tribute, with no acknowledgement given.

YET DARKER.

It was growing. It was getting quite large now- the size of a beach ball. It was… beautiful. Strangely beautiful; calling to him.

THE DARKNESS KEEPS GROWING.

Without realizing it, Sans had stood up. Eyes fixated on the… the… the whatever it was, he moved around the consol.

THE SHADOWS CUTTING DEEPER.

“S-sans? W-what are you doing?! W-we don't know if it’s safe or not!” Alphys’ words fell on deaf ears. All Sans could hear was the call of the shadows.

PHOTONS READINGS: NEGATIVE.

Sans had reached it now. It seemed more beautiful up close.

THIS NEXT EXPERIMENT.

What would happen if he touched it?

PROVES TO BE.

Just a tap wouldn’t hurt. Nothing this beautiful could hurt.

VERY.

His hand reached out, slowly.

VERY.

Deaf to Alphys’ screams, Sans touched it. For a moment, nothing happened.

INTERESTING.

Suddenly, the floor was yanked away, and Sans felt himself falling into the blackness. A strangled scream escaped as he was ripped from the universe. The rip imploded in on itself, leaving the echos of Sans’ final scream the only proof that he’d been in the room.

. . .

 

WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> decided to finaly post here. not like i didn't get an account JUST to post this fic noooo.  
> Sorry this chapter is so short. the next chapters realy short too...  
> i got 3 more chapters already written, so I'll update this every day till i run outa updates hopefully. maybe.  
> Feedback is always apreciated!


	2. In Which Sans Does a Lot of Profanity. Bad Sans.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans works out what's just happened to him, gets laughed at by a flower and kinda weirds out a kid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well people are reading this, which is unexpected. i know 37 hits or 4 kudos isn't a lot but it means a ton to know that people like this!  
> I hope you enjoy this short lill' chapter!

There was something damp and slightly soft benefit him. Something else brushed his skull softly. Sans groaned. Everything ached. He didn’t know where he was, nor how he got there. He cast his mind around. He remembered… a machine… something… beautiful. More beautiful than it should’ve been. Someone- he thought back hard- Alphys? Screaming. Or was that him? It could’ve been both. An accident? Suddenly, it all came rushing back. Sans swore loudly. The Rip. He’d touched The Rip. So, he was either dead, or outside his own universe. Well. only one thing for it. He rolled onto his back and opened his sockets. A white face swam into focus. It was a boss monster. A child by the looks of it. He noticed the blue and pink jumper, the strange, yet familiar expression of concern. Then he noticed the yellow flowers, the rock walls, the sunlight streaming onto his face. The crack it was coming through. He swore again.  
“kid. go on without me. just... i… i don’t believe this…” he closed his eyes again. He didn’t hear them leave.

He was woken up a few minutes later by a scream. Sans sat bolt upright. It came from the next room. Picking himself up, he said hello, and introduced himself to sprinting. The Boss monster was surrounded by two rings of white bullets. Laughing maniacally on a mound a few feet away was a golden flower.  
“Y O U.” Sans felt his pupils vanish. His voice took on a darker, rougher tone. The flower stopped laughing. His eyes narrowed.  
“You remind me of someone…” the flower appeared to think. “Oh, yes! The smiley trash bag!”  
“ L E A V E. T H E K I D. A L O N E. ”the flower smiled, seeing how weak Sans looked.  
“Or what? I don’t think you can do ANYTHING right now! Golly! You must feel maaad right now!” Sans tried to summon an attack. The world spun and threatened to black out. He fell on his butt. The flower burst out laughing, and surrounded him in bullets.  
“flowey, you-” Sans stopped. The bullets had gone.  
“Eh?!” Flowey looked confused. “B-but… my bullets! And how did you know my-” a fire ball wizzed out of the doorway behind him and knocked him out of the ground.  
“What a horrible creature… torturing such poor, innocent youths…” a motherly voice filled the cavern. A middel aged human lady helped them to their feet. She had straight grey hair down to her shoulders, “Do not be afraid, my children. I am Toriel. Caretaker of the Ruins.”  
“n...no way…” Sans whispered. Then the world really did black out.

He woke up, being carried by Toriel through a long room. He let out a low moan.  
“urgh... what’s up with today? that’s the third time i’ve woken up today without taking any intentional naps.” He rubbed his face. Toriel stopped, and layed him down by a pillar.  
“Are you okay, my child?” She asked concern in her voice. The boss monster hung onto her hand. Sans pushed himself up.  
“y-yeah... i’ve just had a crazy day. if i told you what i’ve been through today, you’d think i was telling fibulas.” Torriel snorted.  
“Oh my! That was very humerus!” she managed between laughs as Sans winked.  
“but in all seriousness, tibia honest- i’m a legal adult.”  
“Are you alright to walk then…?” she trailed off into a question.  
“oh, of course. sans. sans the skeleton.” he stood, and offered his hand. She took it. A fart sound echoed through the ruins. Toriel jumped back, covering her mouth.  
“Oh my!” Sans just laughed.  
“heheh, don't worry, it’s just a whoopie cushion. He held out his hand. A whoopie cushion sat in it.  
“Well, you do seem alright. Shall we carry on home?” she asked.  
“sure thing.”

They’d stopped off to get some candy from a bowl, and the some human kids had explained mercy to the other monster. The kids had sat like frogs, with darkness and faces between their legs. Then they came across what looked like a boy in his late teens laying across the the walkway. He was extremely pale, and wore full white. He had his eyes scrunched up tight and was muttering.  
“Zzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. are they gone yet?”  
“This guy is saying ‘Z’ out loud repetitively, pretending to be asleep.” The monster child whispered to Sans.  
“I shall look for another way round… although I believe this is the only way…” Toriel mused “Stay here, will you? Oh! I should give you a phone!” She handed Sans an old mobile. “My number is already in it. Be good, alright?” She turned around and left.  
The monster child walked up to the ghost. They held out their soul, and entered a fight. Their soul hung by their heart.  
“Here comes napstablook.” the child said.

They told the teen-Napstablook- a little joke. Napstablook smiled slightly. Sans suddenly remembered something. Napstablook and Mettaton were cousins, or at least that's what the rumor was. For certain, he was Mettaton’s sound mixer. Napstablook started crying and Sans and the monster started dodging.  
Then, the monster smiled patently. Napstablook smiled a little more. Then he shrugged.  
“sorry... i’m not really feeling up to it right now.”  
The kid gave them another smile.  
“here. watch this…” Napstablook cried again, but this time, the tears flew up and formed a top hat. Sans looked at the kid, and back at Napstablook. “do you like it?” the kid nodded vigorously.  
“yeah. it’s great.” Sans offered. Napstablook beamed and faded away. 

Toriel trotted round the corner.  
“My apologies, but I cannot find another-” She started “Oh! They’ve gone!”  
“yeah, they were just a little down. the kiddo cheered ‘em up though.” Sans said, patting the kid on the back. The kiddo smiled at him. They were roughly the same height as Sans, if a little shorter. Sans found this depressing. No wonder Toriel though he was a child. Papyrus would’ve told him it was because he didn’t drink enough milk or something like that. Thinking of Papyrus made his soul twinge. He sighed and looked away. He didn’t have much in the way of expressions, but his smile faded as much as it would physically go. The child took Sans hand and gave him a concerned look. Sans tried his best to smile back. “c’mmon, then. we going?”

Toriel lead them through the ruins. Once or twice the kid stopped, and appeared to be inspecting something, although nothing was ever there. Finally, they arrived at a house. It was made of purple brick. Toriel unlocked the door.  
“Please, do come in.” she smiled. Sans and the kid followed through. Sans could hardly remember the last time he’d been in a house, The Project having kept him at the lab. The smell of butterscotch and cinnamon filled the house, wrapping round him in a tight hug. “Make yourselves at home!” Toriel smiled. She seemed to realise something. “Oh my! I only have two beds… I am so sorry, I was not expecting visitors and my e- my spare room is under renovations.” She clasped her hands together. Sans shrugged.  
“if you have a couch or something i can crash on that. if there’s one thing i’m good at, it’s sleepin’ anywhere.” he offered.  
“I only have an arm chair…” Toriel fretted. Sans waved off her concerns.  
“that’ll be fine. you keep your bed, and frisk can have the other bed.”  
“If you are certain…” she smiled. “Now, do you two like cinnamon and butterscotch?” the child nodded. “Alright then.” Toriel went into the kitchen. The child turned and studied Sans, confusion and worry etched onto their face. They whispered one thing before running off.  
“But I never told you my name.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sans knows everyone's names! :D   
> this ones really short... :P  
> I'm not a fan of this chapter to be honest. but hey, i tried!


	3. In Which There is Pie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> eating Pie and fighting. my two favourite pass times. :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh wow look this chapter might actually be a normal length!!!!!

Frisk had been suspicious of Sans for the last hour. They didn't understand how he'd known their name. They hardly ever told anyone their name. There was something about Sans, that was for sure. He was like no monster Frisk had ever met. There was the way he swore when he saw Frisk; like he was seeing someone who shouldn't be there. The way he knew Flowey's name. The way he concentrated before falling on his butt, looking drained. Like he'd tried to use magic he was too tired to control. Which was ridiculous – only humans could use magic. The way he reacted to Toriel. The lab coat. The sadness. Everything was off. 

Frisk, out of unease, had retreated to the bedroom. It wasn't that they didn't like Sans; he seemed nice. He'd given up the bedroom for Frisk. He made funny jokes. It's just... He was slightly off, and whilst Frisk had had more than their fair share of "off", they had been shaken up. They were playing half heartedly with a toy horse, which looked like it'd seen better centuries. There was a polite knock at the door. It opened to Toriel wearing an apron.  
"My child, would you care for some pie right now?" Frisk nodded, jumping up.

A bulbous pie sat on the table, a treasure on a pedestal. Toriel smiled.  
"It is for you and Sans to share between yourselves. Please, enjoy."  
"wow toriel. looks amazing!" Sans enthused. Toriel smiled, flattered.  
"W-well. I try my best. Now, if you'll excuse me, I meant to go grocery shopping. I shall be back soon. Be good, alright?" She walked out, pride riding on her face. Sans cut himself and Frisk some pie. Frisk nodded mutely in thanks as Sans placed theirs in front of them. Sans took a bite out of his. The flavour exploded in his mouth like a firework. His grin spread wider across his face. Frisk looked as if they were enjoying it just as much. They took another slice, and wrapped it up in some cloth, much to Sans' confusion.  
"saving it for later?" Frisk nodded. "wanna have another piece?" Frisk shrugged. "kid. i'm no mind reader. what's up?" Frisk sighed, flicking their ears.  
"I'll have one more piece." Tilting his head at a jaunty angle, Sans smirked.  
"all the more for me then." He cut Frisk another slice. "Bone apatite." They sat in silence for a minute, the atmosphere thicker than treacle. Sans broke it suddenly. "hey, kid? i'm sorry 'bout earlier. i dunno what i was thinking. shoulda known it'd creep you out." Sighing, he cut himself another slice. Quite a dent had been made in it, Sans was pretty determined to finish it, with or without Frisk's help. He took a large bite. Frisk didn't say anything, just looked at their hands. 

Sans wasn't good at serious talk, unless it was about science, or the judgement. Rubbing his forehead, he continued. "i... i can't explain. well, i could i guess, but you'd think i'm crazy... heh..."  
"No. It's... It's okay." Frisk assured him. "Is its something to do with science? Because I noticed you have a lab coat." Frisk observed. "And you don't seem to be from the surface..." This was quite the speech coming from them. Sans was impressed.  
"yeah. yeah, it is. i... i'm a quantum physicist. not really by trade, but it's what i do to occupy myself. i got my phd at the underground's number one university at a pretty young age, as far as these things go, got into working on the core, and then... stuff happened. my bro and i moved to snowdin and.... tibia honest, that's when my… my problems started. I didn't wanna find a new job, y'know? my bro pushed me into being a sentry, and i spent most of my time on break or asleep. i'm pretty lazy, always was, always will be. but anyway, when we got to the surface, a rip in the multiverse let me talk to blueberry sans, from another universe. for the best part of a year me and alphys worked on a machine. it went wrong... i touched the rip... and ended up in this universe. where you're a monster, not the human. humans have magic and are trapped down here, and probably have the same soul strength as me." He lifted up his shirt, giving a flash of his silvery soul. He sighed, and took the final slice of pie. "i probably sound mad. maybe don't tell anyone else. i don't wanna have people think i am." Frisk patted his arm.  
"It's okay." They whispered. Sans reached into his pocket, and pulled out the photo, and handed it to Frisk. He pointed out a tall skeleton, wearing a red scarf.  
"that's my bro. papyrus. " His hands shook as he spoke. "i haven't seen him for almost a week." Tears threatened to form, and choke him. "i have to find a way home. back to papyrus." He pushed his empty plate away. Trying for a wider smile, he leaned back. "welp. we put quite a dent in that, didn't we, kid?" 

Toriel came back to find Frisk drawing on the floor, whilst Sans napped in the chair by the fire. After putting away the shopping, she covered Sans with a blanket and sat down on a dining chair, and started reading. Frisk gently tugged at her sleeve.  
"Oh. Hello my child. What is it?" She asked in her kindly voice, stroking Frisks hair. The child had only one question.  
"How do we exit the ruins?"

 

Toriel stood up sharply.  
"Stay here. There is something I must do." She hurried out of the room. Frisk followed her down the stairs, paying no heed to Toriel's instructions.  
"You wish to know how to return ‘home’ do you not? Ahead of us lies the end of the ruins. A one way exit to the rest of the underground. I am going to destroy it. No one will ever be able to leave again. Now be a good child and go upstairs."  
Toriel did not turn around, to say this, and kept walking. When Frisk did not, she balled her fists and held them them at her side. "Every monster that falls down here meets the same fate. I have seen it again and again. They come. They leave. They die. You naive child… if you leave the ruins... they– Asgore, will kill you both. You are putting both you and Sans at risk. I am only protecting you both, do you understand? ...Go to your room." She stormed on ahead. Frisk hurried after. Toriel's face was twisted up in anger, fear and disappointment. " do not try to stop me. This is your final warning." when Frisk smiled reassuringly. “Hmph. You are just like the others. There is only one solution to this. Prove yourself… Prove you are strong enought to survive. Fire danced on her hands, and she pulled Frisk's soul into a fight.

Upstairs, Sans opened his eyes. He had a blanket over him, which hadn't been there before. It was soft and fluffy. pushing the blanket off of him, he stood up. The house seemed oddly silent. Walking into the lobby, hearing sounds coming from downstairs, Sans decided to join the party . 

Turning a corner, he saw Toriel, lit up by fire magic. She looked, in the soft blue old. Maybe her true age, if Boss Humans were a thing in this universe.  
"-strong enough to survive." she was saying. Sans saw Frisk enter a fight. For the second time in a short period of time– possibly the second time in his life– Sans broke into a sprint. 

"frisk!" Sans yelled. Praying hard, he grabbed their sleeve, and waited, tenced.  
"Sans?" Frisk asked "what are you-" a fireball was coming straight at them. Frisk had no time to move. They froze.

Faster than should be possible, faster than someone who just woke up after eating almost an entire pie, faster than _Sans _should be able to move, Sans dodged. He dodged time after time, fireballs missing by far.__  
"Sans?! I... I can dodge too, you know!" Frisk protested. Sans smirked.  
"sure kiddo. go ahead, dodge all this. without getting hit once."  
"If I get hit once it won't be the end of the world!" Sans' sockets darkened, pupils disappearing.  
"some of us ain't that lucky, kid. one hit and i'm dust." The fire stopped. "your go, kiddo." Frisk stood and did nothing. Sparing Toriel.  
"What are you-" Toriel began. She threw more fire. Sans pulled Frisk out of the way. He was breathing heavily, already, unsure how long he could keep it up. 

Time and time again. Over and over. Each time, Frisk spared Toriel, who eventually stopped responding, each turn she threw fireballs which missed Sans by less and less. Sweat was pouring down his face in an unlikely fashion.  
"kid... if i get hit... i'm gonna die. only ever had 1hp. sleepin brings it up, but i ain't slept much in this universe, least, not much proper sleep" Sans managed through thick breathing. "just... trust me. your determination will allow you to reload if you die. trust me." Frisk looked shocked, but nodded. Sans dodged once more, and slowly collapsed onto the floor. A look of horror flashed on Toriel's face as she saw his HP. Her attacks began avoiding him. Frisk was left to dodge her attacks himself. And still they spared, smiling the whole time.

"Stop giving me that look!" Toriel wailed, blasting more fire at Frisk. "This is for your own good! I know we don't have much..." She laughed humorlessly. "Pathetic, is it not? I cannot stop even two children-"  
"legal adult here!" Sans protested from the floor.  
"-a single child and an adult, from leaving." She sighed. Shakily, Sans stood up.  
"look, lady. i have to go. see, i'm not from here, and if i don't..." He shrugged. "there's a possibility i'll be wiped from existence. from my universe. i have to get home."  
"I'm sure you are not that forgettable, Sans."  
"not about that. won't matter what i've done. but i'm not exactly in the mood to discuss quantum physics and stuff right now." Toriel rested her face in her hands.  
"I... I see. But please understand, once you've left, please, don't come back. I hope you understand." She pulled Frisk into a tight hug. The small monster had tears in their eyes. Toriel ruffled their fur, and pulled away. "Be good, alright?"

The first door was a large purple one, reminding Sans of a temple. Toriel turned, tears in her eyes, and left quickly. Soul pulsing heavily with anticipation, Sans looked at Frisk.  
"ready?" Frisk nodded, and they stepped through. A cruel, slightly unimpressed voice sliced through the room like a knife.  
"Clever. Veeerry clever."

"flowey, tibia honest, you can keep whatever you’re gonna say" Sans snarled, hands clenched in his pockets. Flowey just laughed.  
"You think you're sooooo good, sparing people like that! Please, don't pretend you're a saint, Smily skeletal trash bag! If you're anything like that other guy... You've killed, and you would happily kill again! You only spared her 'cause you need them! Chara, Toriel... All of them! Just to get what you want." He did a wiggling dance on his stem. "Of course, there is the other reason..." He winked at Sans. "You like her. You've got a crush on her!" He giggled childishly. Two huge shadows fell on him. Two skulls, not dissimilar to goat or cow skulls, but sharper, with added spikes and teeth, were floating above him.  
"take that back." Flowey appeared to think about it.  
"Uh... No. Soriel... The perfect ship."  
"she is just a friend, kid. leave. before i make you. you don't wanna have a bad time do you?" You could've made ice cubes with Sans' voice. Flowey just laughed his irritating laugh once more. Twin beams of light flew at him, emitting from the skulls. Flowey dissipated into the ground just before they hit. Sans growled, a low harsh sound, and stormed out of the room muttering angrily, Frisk hurrying after. 

Frisk slipped their paw into Sans's skeletal hand. Sans smiled reassuringly, and they set off down the corridor. The floor became lighter and lighter shades of purple as they walked. Neither said anything about what had just happened, the surrounding quelling all desire for conversation. The air became colder with every step, frost coating the rocks like a freezing blanket. With every breath Frisk took, a puff of steam formed. A huge door towered above them. It looked familiar to Sans. Then he realised it was the one into Snowdin. He pushed the door, which was slightly frozen shut, open, and was met with a flurry of freezing air. Sans relaxed, as nostalgia washed over him. The surface may be his home now, but he lived for a while in Snowdin. At least... Since... He shook himself mentally. No use living in the bad times and painful memories. Granted, Snowdin wasn't all snowmen and happiness, as the local saying went (This was as building snowmen was everyone in towns favourite activity. Also, the sentient snowmen were rather cheerful, except perhaps when thinking about how they couldn't move.); Sans' depression had kicked off in Snowdin. There were two main reasons for it: the resets and... It. There he was. At it again. Thinking about It. He threw up a mental block, he'd become rather apt at forming. One memory slipped through, however, flooding Sans' mind.

_Sans clutching his PHD certificate. He was grinning wider than he'd ever done before. The youngest monster to ever receive a PHD. His eyes scanned the crowds at the graduation. There. He was smiling more than anyone else. He had tears of happiness streaming down his skull. Papyrus was cheering, too. Still a bit shorter than Sans back then. Not for long though. Sans' soul felt lighter than air. He could do anything. He'd find a way to get to the surface. See the stars he'd seen depicted in books. Learn to fly. Anything was possible. They went to get hot dogs and ketchup after, just the three of them.  
"I'm proud of you." He told Sans. "You'll do great things, one day." Sans glowed at such praise. Everything was great. It would be the same for ever, surely. Nothing this good could end. ___

__Sans smiled slightly at his naïvety. Nothing that good could _last. _As they walked through the forest, Frisk shivered, and sneezed. Sans chuckled, slipping off his lab coat. Draping it around them, his smile, took on a more kindly aspect.  
"here ya go, kiddo. don't want you turning into a friskicicle, do we?" Frisk grinned and gave him a bear hug. Sans was slightly taken aback. His daily hug intake had gone down considerably since The Project. He laughed. "yeah, kid. i know i'm great, right. c'mmon, let's go." Sans pulled apart from the hug, and placed a hand on Frisk's back. As the twosome set off, two others were watching them. One far away, through a screen, and one much, much, closer._ _ __

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who is "he"? Who is watching? Why do i expect you to know?
> 
> I know, I know, I think i messed up the order of flowey appearing and the light corridor but hey what you gonna do?  
> you can take sans' reaction to flowey being a butt either way. Ship soriel if you wanna. i just personaly don't.  
> Feedback is always appreciated! :D


	4. In which There Are Woopie Custion Shenanigans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got to write some of this chapter in my English lesson! :D  
> I was laughing so hard whilst writing that bit, too.  
> 

The pair walked through the avenue of pine, snow crunching beneath their feet. It was darker here, without the lamps and fires that lit the ruins and what, even after his brief stay, Sans had began to think of as Home. The large crystals that lit the cavern gave off a bluish gray colour. Fog swirled around the treetops, distorting around the organic spikes. A sharp wind whipped around them, grabbing their clothes with icy fingers. Sans had never really understood how the trees survived and flourished underground, after all, they needed sunlight didn’t they? But the trees seemed to flourish on the light of the crystal celing. It was pretty impressive, actually, how the crystals allowed an entire cavern to be lit up to a fair extent, and for an entire forest to grow. The wind probably came from cracks in the mountain- they were close enough to the surface to have cracks that penetrated the cavern ceiling. There were several where sunlight could be seen. You couldn’t see the sky though; Sans had tried star gazing at one of them. The fog made sense, too. But the snow… the snow was confusing. Sans personally thought that someone, probably one of the Royal Scientists, had made a system which artificially made snow. Snowdin was naturally cold enough for frost and snow to form, and maybe the fuzzy folk had demanded some actual snow, to go with the cold temperatures. Hell, Sans didn’t know. It was snow.

A solitary branch lay on the ground. Frisk studied it. It was as long as the monster was tall, and the same thickness of their arm. They heaved at one end, and lifted it about an inch off the floor. It slipped and fell out of Frisk’s hands, landing in the snow with a thump. As the kid jumped back Sans laughed.  
“it’s too heavy to pick up, just leave it.” they carried on for a few steps. There was a loud crack, like a gunshot, and Frisk whirled around. The branch was in pieces. Cautiously, Frisk approached it. It had been smashed into smithereens. Sans chuckled quietly to himself. He remembered this bit. Frisk just stared at the fragments, an expression of terror on their fluffy face.  
“S-sans…” they gripped his hand tightly. “I don’t like this…” Sans gave a reassuring squeeze back.  
“it’s okay, kiddo. nothing to worry ‘bout. i’m here.” He murmured softly. Frisk appeared to calm down a little. “c’mmon, let’s go.” Frisk nodded, but kept a tight grip on Sans’ hand. There was no sound but the snow under their feet. It was eerie. No-one ever came to this part of the forest, so the snow was new and unbroken. A dark shadow darted between two trees. Frisk jumped, their breathing shuddery. They pulled at Sans’ arm, running forward. Sans was pulled along, and for fear of his arm coming off, which would not go down well with the kid, he allowed himself to be dragged along. Frisk came to a stop at the end of the tunnel of trees to catch their breath. There was a crevice with a bridge over infront of them. Frisk tenced, as if hearing something. Sans listened hard. There. A crunch of snow. And another. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. The sound of footsteps was definite now. Frisk looked about to cry. Sans slipped something into his hand. A new voice rang out.  
“M O N S T E R S. D O N T Y O U K N O W H O W T O G R E A T A N E W P A L?” 

Sans placed a hand on Frisk’s back.  
“don’t worry.” he whispered. “i’ll handle this.”  
“T U R N A R O U N D A N D S H A K E M Y H A N D.” Sans spun round and extended his hand. A figure wrapped in a black cloak grasped it. Twin fart noises rang out through the forrest. The figure threw off his cloak. The human under it smirked. His hair was a light blond, bordering on white. It was messy, as if he’d only just woken up, and hadn’t brushed it. Judging by the shadows under his eyes, this was probable. Frisk turned to see what was happening. When they saw the human, they looked back at Sans. This human was wearing the exact same outfit as him.  
“heheh. the old woopie cushion in the hand trick. it’s always funny.” the two said in unison. The human looked bemused.  
“i’m sans. specialize in skeleton magic.” He said, shoving his hands into his pockets.  
“i’m sans. sans the skeleton. so uh. this is confusing, huh?” Sans-Sans-The-Skeleton shook his head, smirking. “so, anyway, your human, huh? that’s hilarious. always have wondered what i’d look like as one.” Human Sans blinked. “any way, the kid here is frisk the boss mo-” he stopped, and slowly raised a hand to his face. He laughed slightly. “god, i just realised. this whole time i’ve been making unintentional puns. and i didn’t even realise it.” he put the back of his hand to his forehead and fake swooned. “i am unworthy to be called sans! i have failed papyrus… tell him that i was a bonehead!” Human Sans chuckled, slightly nervously.  
“welp, this is pretty strange. hey, instead of freezing our a-” He stopped himself, clearly remembering how young Frisk was. “butts off out here, let’s go into snowdin.”

Once over the chasm, Snowdin forrest was actually pretty sweet. The trees didn’t seem as hostile for a start. Human Sans had been about to tell the Human version of Papyrus he should wait at home for a big surprise, but as Sans pointed out, Papyrus would be probably more excited about the idea meeting two monsters in the forest. They walked past gaggles of teens who were chatting, telling jokes, shouting out rebellious slogans (“never do your homework!”) and bragging about their hats. Once they caught sight of a guy with a poor mustache wearing a sombrero. He was loudly complaining about the wifi. They instinctively gave him a wide berth. No one should ever have to deal with any form of Jerry.

After a while, they came across a guy tinkering with a puzzle. The wind played about with a battered red scarf. Human Sans tapped him on the shoulder.  
“hey, bro.” he grinned. The man straightened up and smiled.  
“Hello Sans! What is it?” The guy had sandy coloured hair which rode up in a quiff at the front. He wore a strange outfit. A white top went down to just past his ribs were it ended in a gold strip. He wore blue shorts with a yellow belt, and large, red boots. Underneath all this, perhaps to protect from the Snowdin cold, he donned some kind of black leotard. The overall outfit was, in a nutshell, something. Human Sans grinned, eyes full of brotherly pride. This man was clearly a human version of Papyrus. 

“look over there.” He pointed. Human Pap followed his chubby finger. He gasped. His eyes lit up.  
“OH MY GOD SANS! IS THAT A MONSTER?!” he yelled, also pointing. Human Sans couldn’t resist the opportunity to mess with his bro.  
“uh, i think that's a rock.”  
“Oh.” Papyrus’ face fell.  
“but wait!” Human Sans gasped. “what’s that in front of the rock?” Papyrus’ eyes practically went supernova, they were filled with so many stars.  
“Oh. My. God.” He spun, facing away from the monsters, pulling Human Sans with him. “Sans. Is that a monster?”  
“Yes.”  
“OH MY GOD!” he spun back around and noticed frisk. “OH MY GOD!!” both the Sanses were beginning to wonder just how excited papyrus would get. “SANS THERE ARE TWO OF THEM!”  
Skelly Sans stepped forwards.  
“heya. you look like a cool and great dude. do you know where a guy can get some spaghetti, puzzles or japes around here?” Papyrus was jumping up and down on the spot now. 

“Monsters!” he yelled. “I! The Great Papyrus, shall capture you! And you, my dear monsters, shall get all the spaghetti, puzzles and japes that you want!” his face appeared to be entirely smile now. “NYEHEHEHEHEHEHE!” he screamed as he ran on ahead. 

They spent the best part of the next hour negotiating puzzles, japes and spaghetti. Eventually, they arrived in Snowdin. As they walked past Grilby’s, Human Sans stopped. Clearing his throat, he looked at Frisk.  
“uh, hey, kiddo? why don’t you go do some exploring? me and skelly sans here need to discuss somethin’.” Frisk looked at Sans for reassurance. The skeleton patted Frisk on the shoulder.  
“don’t sweat it, kid. i’ll catch you up later, k?” Frisk nodded and ran off. Human Sans opened the door.  
“after you.”

The pair entered the warm bar. Doggo, a guy they’d encountered earlier, was sat with two seeing eye dogs at his feet. A buff guy in armor was stroking one and laughing as it licked him. Sans supposed that was Greater Dog. Another guy in armor was sat at another table, playing poker by himself. He appeared to be losing, but was getting very excited. His neck appeared to be increasing in length. A couple sat holding hands, giving each other adoring looks.  
“Heya sansy~” a young woman in a booth near the door greeted. She hiccupped and giggled, going back to her drink. She had two weird, tall bunches, which gave the impression that she had bunny ears. The bar broke out with greetings. On the way up to the bar, they passed a guy with a disproportionately big mouth. Sans was pleased to see some things were the same in this universe. They sat down at the bar where a man with flaming red hair was stood, cleaning a glass. Despite being inside and no window being open, his orange hair seemed to fly in a gentle wind. He nodded when they took their stools. Next to them two guys were having a conversation. One was wearing a red hat and a grubby top reading “Free as a Bird”. Sans assumed that was a joke. No-one was free in the underground. The guy he was chatting to was the definition of ugly. Sans felt at home with these human versions of his friends. 

“Hey, Sans! Who’s the skeleton?” A guy in a full leather outfit with green hair called out. Despite the low light, he wore shades.  
“heya p.h. this guy’s another sans.”  
“What? Another one? One Sans is more than enough!” the “Free as a Bird” guy joked. “The underground’ll be drained of ketchup in a week!”  
“welp, whoever makes it’ll have to try to ketchup with demand.” Sans made skeletal finger guns at him. The guy grinned.  
“Everyone calls me Red. Red Bird. you really a Sans? That’s gonna be confusing.” Sans scratched his skull.  
“hm. yeah, it is. Hey.” He turned to Human Sans. “i got an idea. We’ll change one of our names.” The human shrugged.  
“call me… hans.” Sans nodded.  
“short for human sans? i like it. otherwise i’d s-sans.” he laughed. “so. hans it is then.”

“alright then.” Hans held a bottle of ketchup in his left hand. “what’s going on? who are you. why are you me?” Sans stared into his burger, and sighed.  
“well. where to start? well. first off. will you try to take everything i say as true? because it is. i mean, i can hardly believe this myself but, hey, it’s real and it’s happening. so. will you believe me?” after a short hesitation, Hans nodded. “good. now. hi, i’m sans. i’m a scientist from another universe where monsters were trapped underground and humans were the terrors. in my universe frisk’s a human. how, i got here. welp. frisk basically freed everyone from the underground, through dead goat kid is brought back to life as a plant without a soul and becomes evil stuff, can’t remember the details but i’m sure it’ll all happen in this universe. so anyway, i’m living on the surface with my bro papyrus and pun pal t- wait, i’m gonna let you find out who that is yourself- frisk, undyne, alphys, asgore, well, everyone realy. but anyway, one day there’s this freak rip in space-time and i speak to a sans from a place called “underswap” i think it was. he’s like us, but with papyrus’ personality, if papyrus was permanently on a sugar high. and that was him without being on caffeine or sugar or anything. so, this got me thinking “what if i could find a way between universes?” y’know? ” he stopped and looked at the table. “i was, uh, actually half hoping to find someone too.” he laughed uncertainly. “it’s stupid, i know, but i had hopes of finding this guy.” he looked solemnly at Hans. “you probably know who i’m talking about. don't like to say his name… brings up bad times. but anyhow. i built this machine with al. we booted it up, and hacked into a small rip in spacetime and i…” he shot Hans a sheepish smile. “i touched this rip in spacetime for no reason.”

Hans burst out laughing.  
“y-you... idiot!” he choked out between laughs. “why’d you-?” Sans shrugged.  
“heck if i know. but basically, i’m gonna need your help to get home. if i don't… well, the kid can reset the timeline, and if they do... i’m erased from existence. worse than dead. forgotten.” his voice cracked. “my own bro wont remember ever having a brother. some little things of mine will remain. notes, maybe some personal items. but no-one’ll know who they belonged to.” He studied Hans closely. “will you help?” Hans grinned.  
“course i will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God. Paps is such a sweety. that was the bit I wrote in class.  
> Doggo having seeing eye dogs is inspired by this amazing fic: http://archiveofourown.org/works/5246033/chapters/12103289  
> Updates will slow down now, 'cause I've got through what I've written. it'd be nice to be able to say "saturdays are when I'll upload" but because its me, even tho im on summer holls, I'll get destracted and forget about it haha. hopefully it'll be some kinda weekend update. Maybe like my speedarts, every sundays is what I aim for, but I usualy hit every 2... I still havent uploaded last weeks either... and ive done it haha  
> Feedback is very much apreciated! And thank you all SO MUCH for reading! ^w^


	5. In Which Sans is Irritated by Himself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans begins to realise he's pretty annoying sometimes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow haven't updated in ages!  
> just been a bit uninspired, and then when I get inspiration my computer keyboard dies.  
> And then the next day the whole computer.  
> I'm writing on my phone and in a book now xC

Some time later, Sans and his human doppelganger left the bar, which was more than a few bottles of ketchup emptier. Sans checked his watch. It was playing up, hands spinning all ways. He shrugged. Since he’d been transported not only through the multiverse, but time and space, the watch was going haywire. 

“hey, got a watch?” he asked as they walked through the town. Warm light spilled out of the snow topped houses.   
“yeah.” Hans replied.  
“great, what’s the time?” Hans shrugged.  
“i said i have a watch. never said i have it with me.” Sans groaned.  
“i can see why my act was never classed as comedy, if this is what i’m like.” Hans snorted indignantly.  
“excuse me, i don’t know what you had going on but my act was gold. so speak for yourself. i only use the finest puns and jokes in my act.”   
A house laced with flashing christmas lights appeared out of the mist. There were two mailboxes standing outside. One was full to the point of bursting with junk mail. Hans swung open the door. Frisk was snuggled up on the couch with Papyrus watching a MTT film. The boxy robot was staring in some film about a mobster who, upon meeting a beautiful woman decides to give up a life of crime for his unrequited love or some similar cliche. Strange, Mettaton didn't seem to’ve changed from universe to universe. But Papyrus and the human seemed to like it. They were eating uncooked spaghetti from a bowl like popcorn.

Hans sat down on the couch and reclined, one arm draped across the top of the couch, other over the armrest. Sans mirrored him on the other side, next to Frisk.   
“so, what’s happened to capturing the kid?” Hans asked Papyrus.  
“Well! I tried to capture the fluffy monster, but instead they asked me on a date, and so I obliged, as any cool and great friend would, but I realised that I don’t like them like that, so we decided to watch a film instead!” Papyrus explained. Frisk grinned, showing tiny fangs. Sans had never understood why boss monsters had fangs. But what about monsters ever made sense?  
“what’s the film?” Sans asked. Mettaton was in a long monologue about love or something.  
“I’m glad you asked! It’s a film about a mobster who falls in love with a beautiful lady, who doesn’t approve of his crimes. So he decides to give up the life, but his rival gang challenges him to a heist and his gang isn’t as good, so they have to train, and then the mobster is also trying to go out with the lady, but he can’t let her know what he’s planning…” Sans listened to Papyrus ramble on about the cliched film. Papyrus’ enthusiasm knew no bounds when it came to Mettaton. He knew all the trivia about every movie and every scene. Who the side actors were, where they filmed it, what time; everything. It was impressive, the amount of useless things he knew. 

Most of the plots for the MTT films came from human – or, in this universe, monster films that had washed up in the dump. There were lots of creative people in the underground, but due to the popularity of human – or monster films, Mettaton always opted for almagations of popular plots or several hours of rose petals for the script. And they all sold like crazy.

After about half an hour, Sans yawned, and glanced over at Hans. He was softly snoring. Sighing, Papyrus furrowed his eyebrows at him.  
“He’s always like this.” He admitted to Frisk. “Whenever I try to watch something with him, he always falls asleep. It’s really quite vexing!” Sans shuffled uncertainly. Did he really? Surely he’d watched at least one movie through with Paps. He racked his hypothetical brain for one. Oh, There’d been that human film that fell down about the spacecraft. Apollo 13. That was a good film. And… and…  
And nothing. He must’ve watched some with him as a kid right? He just couldn’t remember any. Silently, Sans vowed that if he ever got back to his own universe, he’d watch film after film with Paps, without falling asleep. He was going to sit through this one, first. 

Forty-Five minutes later, the end credits started to roll. Sans stretched, vertebrate clicking and popping. Papyrus was hugging Frisk tight, tears cascading down his face. Frisk caught Sans’ eye and shrugged. Sans felt Paps was slightly over reacting. The film hadn't been that sad. Taking a deep breath, Papyrus untangled himself from Frisk.  
“I shall go and make dinner now, and we can all eat my great spaghetti!” He proclaimed, marching into the kitchen. Sans was sure that this universe wasn't a complete parallel to his own. Perhaps in this universe Papyrus’ spaghetti was edible.

Spoiler alert: it wasn't. 

Sans took a tentative bite of his noodles. He was immediately glad his face wasn't very flexible. The taste was indescribable. As everyone forced down the pasta, conversation turned to Sans and Frisk’s plans for the night and future.  
“i could take frisk and stay at the inn.” Sans suggested.   
“do you have the gold? and it's cold out. you and frisk could crash on the couch.” Hans countered. Sans shrugged.  
“sounds cool. what do ewe think, kid?” He got a punch on the shoulder for the puns.   
“Sounds cool!” Frisk quietly enthused.  
“Great, even!” Papyrus not quite so quietly enthused. “What about tomorrow?” Hans looped an arm over Sans’ shoulder.  
“skeleton man here’s gonna stay and do some science with me, right, bro?” Papyrus nodded happily.  
“Coolio! It's great you're doing more science again! Especially after what happened at the core!” Sans clenched his fist in his pocket at the mention of the core. Hans’ reaction was much more profound. He flinched hard, and looked away, an angry, longing expression on his face.  
“yeah. sure.” He muttered. Papyrus failed to notice this, strangely, considering how emotionally in tune he generally was.   
“What about Frisk?” Papyrus asked.  
“I'm going to find a way out…” The child said, determinedly. Papyrus nodded solemnly.   
“Of course. Remember: follow the road west! And King Asgore is a real fuzzy pushover, too.” Hans hopped down off his chair, bringing his empty plate to the sink. He motioned for Sans to follow.  
“hey, let's get down to the basement and make a start, huh?” Frisk took off Sans’ lab coat, and handed it back.   
“thanks, bud.” He ruffled their fur. “see you later.” Frisk nodded happily. 

Hans pulled his hoodie tighter as they trudged through the snow. Taking out the key, he hummed the same jazzy tune that Sans always did. The door creaked as it swung inwards, revealing a smallish laboratory. A screen on the wall blipped and flashed, whilst a machine at the other end of the room hummed under a thick canvas cloth. Drawing up a stool, Sans fished his notebooks out his coat and spread them on the table.   
“right.” He cracked his knuckles. “this is the preliminary research we’ve got right off the bat. however, this isn't all our notes. there's a lot of info we’re missing.”  
“you know the info though?” Hans asked, eyes narrowing. Sans shrugged.  
“some. not all. but it shouldn't take too long to regain the information we need and draw up blueprints. we also need to look into this universe’s code number. I've got mine, and swaps but not this one for this universe. without machinery that'll take a while to get.”  
“so a lot of work?”  
“a lot.”

The two Sans’ poured over the few notebooks which were packed cover to cover with complex equations and notes. Hans opened a draw and took out fresh books to make even more notes based on what they'd got. Hours flew by like minutes. After a while, Hans took a shortcut upstairs and came back with a coffee machine and a jar of beans. Sans was thankful for that. Between the two of them they finished off the jar of beans, putting on pot after pot of coffee. Both were buzzing with caffeine. When they'd gone through all the books and made more notes, they then started drafting out machines on scrap paper, and eventually onto blue. There was a knock on the door.  
“come in.” Hans didn't even look up. The door squeaked as Papyrus pushed it open, carrying two plates of spaghetti.   
“I brought you some lunch.” He told them, placing them on the table.   
“lunch? wait, what time is it?” Sans asked turning to look at him  
“One o clock.” Hans had just taken a fork full of spaghetti. There was coughing and spluttering in response to this.  
“In the morning?!” He choked. Papyrus looked puzzled.  
“No. Why would I give you lunch at one in the morning?” Shrugging, Hans thanked Papyrus. Once Papyrus left, sans took his plate and started to eat it. Hans was practically inhaling it, and had his arm around it, like a protective barrier. He'd done that the day before, too. Sans wondered about it. Some habits must change from universe to universe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God that movie plot XD  
> If you can't tell, I just looked up movie plots and smashed them all together.  
> I imagine there's a Rocky style training montage in that film.
> 
> Constructive criticism really helps guys!

**Author's Note:**

> decided to finaly post here. not like i didn't get an account JUST to post this fic noooo.  
> Sorry this chapter is so short. the next chapters realy short too...  
> i got 3 more chapters already written, so I'll update this every day till i run outa updates hopefully. maybe.  
> Feedback is always apreciated!


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